SpaceX Founder Elon Musk said Falcon Heavy rocket would launch in a week or so

ABOVE VIDEO:After several weeks of preparation, SpaceX’s massive Falcon Heavy rocket on Launch Pad 39A has completed a static firing for the first time.

BREVARD COUNTY • KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLORIDA – After several weeks of preparation, SpaceX’s massive Falcon Heavy rocket on Launch Pad 39A has completed a static firing for the first time.

The test included firing all 27 engines nearly simultaneously while the rocket was held in place on the launch pad.

SpaceX Founder Elon Musk posted on Twitter that the rocket would launch “in a week or so.” The flight will carry Musk’s red Tesla Roadster as a payload.

The Falcon Heavy rocket is now the most powerful rocket since the Saturn V and can launch twice as much payload as the United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV Heavy.

With more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff—equal to approximately eighteen 747 aircraft at full power—Falcon Heavy will be the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two.

Consisting of three boosters and 27 engines, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy includes two Falcon 9 first-stage boosters and a central core booster that is a modified Falcon 9.

SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy rocket during assembly ahead of its first test flight from Pad 39A of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The rocket’s first flight is expected in January 2018. (SpaceX image)

SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy rocket during assembly ahead of its first test flight from Pad 39A of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The rocket’s first flight is expected in January 2018. (SpaceX image)